Leather-splitting machine



(No Model.)

H. WORCESTER.

LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE.

N0. 362,694. Patented May 10, 1887.

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UNrrE ArENr rrrc HENRY YOROESTER, OF MALDEN, ASSIGNOR TO ANDRE\V G. VEBSTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,694, dated May l0, 1887.

l A pplieniion filed March ll', 1857.

To @ZZ whoml it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WORCESTER, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Leather-Splitting Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for split ro ting whole sides of leather, and especially to the mechanism for adjusting the gage-roll rela tive to the knife, and is an improvement upon the machine described in the Letters Patent No. 347,402, granted to Andrew G. \Vcbster August 17, 1886.

In splitting whole sides of leather it has been found that in order to split the leather to a uni form thickness the gageroll, instead of being set with its axis parallel to the cutting-edge of 2o the knife, should be so adjusted that the end thereof toward which the back of the side of leather is presented when passing through the machine shall be slightly farther from the knife than its opposite end,and as one-half of the sides of the leather have to be run through the machinewith their back edges toward the right and the oth er half with their back edges toward the left, it follows that the angle of the gage-roll to the knife must be reversed quite often. To

3o accomplish this the screws for raising and lowering the opposite ends of the gage-loll must be so arranged that they may be operated independently of cach other.

It has also been found by actual test that it is necessary to slightly adjust the height of the gageroll during the passage of the side of leather through the machine just before the fore-leg portion of the side reaches the edge of the knife, assuming that the side is fed to the 4o machine rump end first. This necessity arises Vfrom the fact that when this point is reached the back edge of the side has to be held back bythe operator or retarded in its movement through the machine to permit the wrinkled portion on the belly edge of the side in the vicinity of the fore leg to be fed through the machine, so as to smooth out the wrinkles or fullness and split thc same evenly, the result of which is to cause a slight variation in the 5o thickness of the leather, which it is desirable Serial No. 231,266. (No model.)

to avoid. I have found that it is practically impossible to adjust both screws separately sufficiently quick to obviate this difficulty.

The object of my invention is to overcome the above mentioned difficulties by so con- 55 structing and arranging the gage-roll-adjusting mechanism that the adj listing-screws may be operated independently or together; audit consists in applying to the rim of each screwoperating hand-wheel an adjustable clamp and connecting said clamps by means of a readilyremovable connectingrod, as will be more fully described.

Figure 1 of the drawings is afront elevation of a machine having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same on line .r x on Fig. 1 and looking toward the right of said figure. Fig. 3 is a planof the screw-operating hand-wheels with my invention applied thereto, drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 4t is a section through the rim of one of the hand-wheels and the clamp secured thereon. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the connecting-rod detached with a portion of its middle broken away, and Fig. 6 illustrates a 75 modification of the manner of' connecting the rod to the haudwheel.

In the drawings, A A are the side frames of the machine; A and A2, tie-beams; B, the beltknife; O, the pulleys for the saine; a, the bed- 8o roll; and a, the gage-roll having a bearing at each end in a sliding box, Z), which may be moved vertically by means of the screw c, tted to a female thread formed in saidf'box and having a bearing in the upper portion of the frame A, all constructed and arrangcd'in a well-known manner, as shown in Fig. 2.

To the rim of each of the hand-wheels D and D', I fit the block E, made in two parts and secured together and firmly clamped to said 9o rim by the screw c, said block E being so con structed that it may be clamped to said rim at the junction of a spoke therewith as well as between said spokes. Said blocks E are each provided with the upwardly-projecting boss or hub g, in which is formed a socket, g', as shown in Fig. 4.

F is a connectingrod, made preferably of a round rod of iron or steel, and having its two end portions bent at right angles to its main 10o body and parallel to each other to torni journals h 7L to iit the sockets g', as shown.

Instead of the sockets g and bent connecting-rod, the rod may have an eye at each end thereof, and the bosses or hubs g may be formed into journals to iit said eyes, as shown in Fig. 6,Without affecting my invention.

The operation of myinvention is as follows: To set the gage-roll preparatory to splitting a 1o pile of sides of leather, the back edges of which must be presented toward the right of Fig. l while being acted upon by the machine, the connecting-rod F is removed and the two hand- -wheels D and D are operated independently I5 until the gage-roll c is properly adjusted to the knife with the end toward the right of Fig. l a tritle higher than its opposite end. The connecting-rod F is then placed in position to connect the wheels D and D', the blocks E E being adjusted around the rims of said wheels to the proper distance apart to fit said rod, when the machine is in eonditionto commen ee operations. The operator at the rear of the machine then presents a side of leather to the action of the bed and gage rolls,which feed it through the machine, the operator upon the front side ofthe machine aiding in manipulating the leather as it is being fed through the machine. Vlien the side ot'leather has passed so far through the machine that the wrinkled portion thereof in the vicinity of the fore leg is approaching the feed or bed and gage rolls, the rear operator holds or retards the back edge, and the front operator seizes one of the 3 5 hand-whee1s,D or D', and turns it a fraction of a revolution to raise the gage-roll, which is moved bodily by virtue of the two Wheels D and D being connected together as described. When the sides in one pile have been split, and

4o it is desired to split the sides in the pile containing the opposite halves of the skins, the

rod F is again removed, and the adjustingscrews are operated independentlyto raise the `left-hand end and depress the right-hand end of the roll a to reverse its angle relative to the knife. The rod is then replaced, and the operations above described in relation to splitting the sides of leather are repeated.

NVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isf- :o

1.A In a leather-splitting machine, the cornbination, with the gage-roll, adjustable boxes therefor, a screw for adjusting each of said boxes, and a hand-Wheel for revolving each of said screws, ofablock adjustably clamped to the 5 5 rim of each of said hand-Wheels and provided with a journal or bearing fora connecting-rod, and a connecting-rod loosely 'fitted to and readily removable from said journals or bearings, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with the screws provided with hand-wheels for adjusting the gage-roll of'a leather-splitting machine, the blocks E E, each made in two parts and clamped to the rim of one of said wheels by the screw e, so as to be readily adjustable thereon, and provided with upwardly-projecting journal or bearing g, and the connecting-rod F, fitted to said journal or bearing to connect said hand-wheels, said rod being constructed and arranged to be readily removable from said journal or bearing by simply lifting the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication,in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses, on this 5th day of March,

HENRY VORCESTER. 

